Postulates of Atheism

Okay, the debate really was about understanding if ethics are a function of God. As is the common understanding, ethics are a function of religion and religion is a function of God. So, what I wanted to prove was, that ethics really stand by themselves without god and I think I have been successful in that. But, yes the discussion moves towards atheism and I think its time to put down my 'Postulates of Atheism' :-

1. You cannot get any help from prayers. You are by yourself and cannot wait for a superpower to help you. A hospital or university could be built instead of spending money for building temples, churches and mosques. We ALONE have to strive to eradicate poverty, conquer diseases, conserve nature, eliminate war and protect people.
2. There is nothing beyond the physical nature of matter, nothing super-natural. Death is the termination of that organic unit. This hypothesis seems shocking and troubling, but when you die, you die. There is no afterlife. We humans like to believe in immorality and that our soul still lives etc... but that is bullshit. There is no Heaven, no Hell. My identity is not beyond my body. My identity is by the neuronal networking in my brain, that's it, there is nothing more to it.
3. An Atheist does not refrain from social responsibilities. In fact he strives for involvement in life instead of seeking escape in death/moksha/sanyas/nirvana. He believes in loving his fellow men than loving an imaginary god. We are the keepers of ourselves and others. We are responsible people, the job is here and the time is now.
4. Understanding oneself, other people and the nature of universe is the real enlightenment and fulfillment of life and requires the highest levels of intelligence. Science and Philosophy rule!
5. Its not a bad thing to enjoy luxury, find convenience in new technologies, strive for betterment of life or be materialist.
6. There are many questions you can ask, like where did the earth come from? where did the Sun come from? who did the big bang? what was there before the big bang etc etc etc... My response to this is, "I don't know"; and I am not ashamed to say that because I am sure we will get there some day. There was a time when we attributed the lightening in the sky to the Gods. Then the gods said the earth was flat, and we believed it. Mr. Galileo had to loose his life to say that its round. Then we went in space to see the earth and prove the Gods wrong!
7. And most importantly an Atheist does't not bother what others believe in. Individual rights of thought and expression are the base of a progressive society and people should be allowed to act as they believe as long as this is according to 'law' and not a nuisance to the society at large.

By the way, if you see God in everything you see around, so be it! Human brains are highly imprintable and people can be trained to think something without reasoning. Socrates was sentenced to death and poisoned for 'reasoning' with the Gods. And, Chet, Mother Teresa did not believe in God. There is documentation about her letters to some bishop asking why she cannot see, hear or feel 'God' in spite of a lifetime of prayers and service. I read this in a article in TOI, immediately following her demise. Anyways, if you see the journey all along , from believing in elemental Gods like Sun, Moon, Fire, Water etc to believing in personified Gods like Apollo, Zeus, Shiva, Christ etc. moving on to non-personification of God believing in principles and ideas like in Islam, Buddhism or Jainism (Vedas are an expection to all this, I'll talk about them later; after I have been able to comprehend a drop of that ocean...). And then there has always been a growing class of non-believers, the 'Atheist'. I am not pro-atheism or anti-religion, in fact I believe in integrated hindutva, and I don't care what others believe... all I want is to be reasonable!

God Vs Ethics: The Antithesis

It is amusing how similar an aethist like Bhubha and a firm believer like me think, even when it comes to God. No, ethics are not dependent on God. Yes, religion is more of a way of life. Yes, religion needs ammendment just like constitution of a country. And yes, God is Also the Evil.

Because for me, God is everything. Sunshine and blossoms are the Grace of God, a narrow escape is the Mercy of God, and floods and earthquakes are the wrath of God.

But what is God at the first place? Is it something outside of us? Is it a superpower that governs the universe, gets delighted when we pray and gets upset when we dont? Is it an entity that tells us to kill the unbelievers, sacrifice a goat's blood, rape women of other religion? Who is he? Or she? Or whatever it is?

The fact of the matter is that nobody knows. Nobody saw or heard the God. They only read about God, and were told by other who were in turn told by someone else what God likes and what he doesn't like. But did God say that, really? We have no way to find out.

A lot of scriptures claim to be the words of God. A lot of people claim to be the sons and daughters and messengers of God. They lure people into doing things that they want done, and in return assure people that the God will reward you in the end for your conduct. But that is not all. This modus operandus basically aims for the weak spot- the Achille's heel that almost all of us are victims of: feeling of guilt. The intermediary- the person between you and God tells you that God will forgive all your sins, if you return to the right path. They can do this, because they know that we all percieve ourselves as sinners in some deep corner of our minds, and long for forgiveness. And if pleasing god is the undoing of all the crimes, then why would one not please God? It's the people with an aching conscience that are the staunchest followers of God's words.

But the fact of the matter is- as I believe it, of course- is that the God can't forgive you or grant your wishes, if you do not do so at the first place. A person asking for forgiveness from God, is essentially asking for forgiveness from himself, and until he makes up for the wrongs that he has done- he will not feel redeemed. For God is nothing outside a person- but the very essense of their being.

So you see- the concept of God has to do with everything- with ethics and society, actions and emotions, science and religion. There is a reason why the biggest crimes as well as the most glorious deeds are performed under the name of God. There is a reason why holy wars are fought even in this century of knowledge and information explosion. There is a reason why the concept of God exists till date.

Haven't we- at least the modern, educated communities, done away with a lot of old customs that are no longer valid? Then why have we not thrown out of the window the notion of God? Why do we still 'Thank God' when things work out? Why did Einstein believe in God? Why did Mother Teresa?

Once a man asked an aethist, "Do you believe in God?" "No", the aethist replied. "In heaven, or hell?" asked the man. "No", said the aethist firmly. "Oh. Where would you go then, after death?" Is it not the questions like these, the dark night beyond realms of life, the coincidences and occurances beyond the scope of science, inexplicable behaviours of people, animals, plants and planets- things beyond our knowledge or control, that make us believe that it is not us, but something superior that governs this universe, and we call it God?

The fact that we exist, the fact that flowers bloom and birds sing and planets revolve, the fact that animals breed and clouds pour and seas ebb and flow- is proof enough for God's existance. God speaks in our voices, God beats in our hearts. It is the flame of life that burns in our bodies that we call God. And so, as long as we exist, we can't really do away with the concept of God.